Any other fans of "The Section 31 Files" here?

Seriously --- very frequently I find myself re-listening to the entire series and just marveling at how truly well-thought out, entertaining, and plain old fun it all is. Granted, there are some things that get annoying with time and repetitive listening, but they're minor things when compared to the scope of the arc of the first two seasons. Further, I love how it has crossed over with other fan films like Intrepid and Hidden Frontier. I found it at a very hard time in my life and it also inspired me to begin work on my own podcast series.

Mac and Judah appear to be written like Bogart and Lorre characters although the voices are much different. I plan to relisten to this series for a fourth time. I picked up things on the 2nd and 3rd times that I hadn't in the previous. It is a quite timeless series.

Agreed, the characters of Takila Mak and Judah Friese do play well off each other. I didn't really get into the series though til I had downloaded all the episodes, and let them run continuously on the iPod as I assembled furniture in my then-new apartment last year.

There's a lot of bad grammar around though in the dialogue --- lots of words used improperly; that can easily be solved by having another set of eyes edit the script.

Further, many times there are names, places, etc. that are mispronounced by the actors, which is forgivable, but again is easily rectified -- back when TNG and DS9 were accepting freelance spec scripts, the production office would ask for a pronunciation guide to be attached for any new, offbeat, or alien names or words.

I definitely enjoy the obscure references to the Hidden Frontier world -- mentioning a terrorist bombing "as far out as Deep Space 12" and obviously the opening of the series as well, not to mention Korg!

The character of Mak is at first hard to swallow --- he's always the badass, always the one with the witty comeback, and sometimes suffers from a kind of "Mak knows best" syndrome. Again, its forgiveable given the arc and general story of the series, but it grates after a while. Why can't Judah have a witty comeback? Why can't Dalonna? But there's a lovely mystery to him and the storyline about the Novachrons that just keeps me waiting for more.

As for Dalonna -- I very much preferred Kara Dennison's portrayal. This is not a diss against the other actors who took over the role; they all did a fine job. However, Dennison made it her own and I really believed she was the character.

The thing though that I really really enjoy -- and I only just realized this today as I re-listened to season 2 -- is the time dedicated to smaller roles, supporting characters, and the general world-building atmosphere each episode takes on. Its not always the same seven characters each episode; Supporting characters like Minister K''Laren and Cammy and Sebastian Breton are given more than just a few guest-star lines; they have their own stories, and all of the stories intersect at some point throughout the series. As I said in my original post, the epic scope of the show is just masterfully plotted, its just the details -- language but also the deification of Mak -- as himself or anyone else he becomes -- that sometimes point out the inherent flaws of the series.

On the whole though its an excellent series, one I am glad to have and be able to listen to and I salute Eric and his team at DarkerProjects for creating a truly enjoyable, inspiring, and entertaining product.

I really enjoyed the first 2 seasons but felt it lost its way in the 3rd season. everyone should checkout dp's Star Trek: Lost Frontier its excellent.

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Well, there's a definitive end to the main story arc at the end of season two -- Busby clearly had plotted it all out to be so, and it makes further sense that he would have wanted to end the series there. However, despite the wayward nature of the following season -- the Rura Penthe trilogy, and the four part finale -- I still found it all entertaining enough to keep.

As for Lost Frontier, yes, its good too, however I've noticed some of the same issues cropping up -- though one thing I *will* say --- Korsava IV is one hell of a busy planet!

As for Korg -- yeah, its one of those really simple, delightful coincidences in life that we get to see him on Hidden Frontier and Odyssey, and hear him on Section 31 Files and Lost Frontier. It helps immensely that Karl Puder has made the role his own and is quite entertaining to listen to and watch, but its also fun to see the fan film continuity working so well. I would have enjoyed the "Bold Venture" two-parter even more had Pioneers continued. Oh well.

Which brings me to a certain point - the crossovers and cameos. Doctor Who, Star Wars, references to the Narn, the Cylons ... all awesome, handled quite well I thought. Though I would stay away from revisiting established characters unless they can find people who sound more like the actors we know. Riker appeared once, and it was hard to imagine it being the same character. Similarly, though I love Ben Harmer's voice and his performances, it was all to easy to hear his voice rather than Martok's. The guy they got to play Archer though early on in the series -- that guy had Bakula down pat. I couldn't believe how much he sounded like him!

Finally -- and this is another point I forgot to bring up in my original post -- I like that the characters didn't just meet for the first time in the pilot. They each have backstories that intersect -- Dalonna was rescued by Korg. Mak, Judah, Bishop, and Tom Backus all served on the Defiant. Locke was Sloane's protege. It all adds a very nice texture to the universe in which Section 31 takes place, and it makes it all the more enjoyable.

I really enjoyed the first 2 seasons but felt it lost its way in the 3rd season. everyone should checkout dp's Star Trek: Lost Frontier its excellent.

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As for Korg -- yeah, its one of those really simple, delightful coincidences in life that we get to see him on Hidden Frontier and Odyssey, and hear him on Section 31 Files and Lost Frontier. It helps immensely that Karl Puder has made the role his own and is quite entertaining to listen to and watch, but its also fun to see the fan film continuity working so well. I would have enjoyed the "Bold Venture" two-parter even more had Pioneers continued. Oh well.

Finally -- and this is another point I forgot to bring up in my original post -- I like that the characters didn't just meet for the first time in the pilot. They each have backstories that intersect -- Dalonna was rescued by Korg. Mak, Judah, Bishop, and Tom Backus all served on the Defiant. Locke was Sloane's protege. It all adds a very nice texture to the universe in which Section 31 takes place, and it makes it all the more enjoyable.

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Karl Puder is awesome in the part, Doubleohfive you have prompted me to listen to this series again, re-downloading season 1 right now.

I was blown away by the quality of S31 files. I did find the first four episodes a bit confusing but I stuck with it and the first couple of seasons were fantastic.

I was rather blown away by how well Busby took the temperal cold war, which enterprise had essentially abandoned and made it work much better than that show ever did.

I really liked the future narrative of the observer looking back on history and the hints of what was to come in the series but also how they were realised. The on going story appears to have been planned far more thoroughly than your average tv show.

I do however feel some of the episodes suffered from being compressed into a twenty minute format and leading to opitunities for more character depth being lost, and I do feel at times the crossovers got a bit too much.

I was blown away by the quality of S31 files. I did find the first four episodes a bit confusing but I stuck with it and the first couple of seasons were fantastic.

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See, that was my original problem with it --- I was just impatient at first. I kept downloading the episodes though, planning to, at some point, listen to them. I'm glad I did!

I was rather blown away by how well Busby took the temperal cold war, which enterprise had essentially abandoned and made it work much better than that show ever did.

I really liked the future narrative of the observer looking back on history and the hints of what was to come in the series but also how they were realised. The on going story appears to have been planned far more thoroughly than your average tv show.

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Exactly. As I said the whole thing was very well thought out, and, like Babylon 5, allowed us to see glimpses of the future even though we had no idea what was coming next.

I do however feel some of the episodes suffered from being compressed into a twenty minute format and leading to opitunities for more character depth being lost,

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I understand. Do you have any particular instances in mind? Because -- and I know I sound like a broken record -- it sometimes feels like Mak is always the first in line for most of the juicy stuff. Though, Dalonna, Korg, and Backus got some good stuff to play with too. I guess one that's fresh in my mind -- mainly because I listened to it today! -- would be the events following the crash of the Nosferatu in "Fallout." Given how much Dalonna seemingly blamed herself, as well as Tom Backus' own self-awareness of his maiming, it struck me as slightly cavalier to just give them enough time to bitch about it and then prance off along with Locke. Maybe its just me, but I would have liked to see them deal with their issues a bit further as they continued through the rest of that arc.

and I do feel at times the crossovers got a bit too much.

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See, I'm torn between whether there were just too many (Martok, The Borg Queen, Mirror Hoshi, Riker & Titan, Archer, the Female Changeling, etc) ... or if they were just handled in too hamfisted a fashion? I mean, I get that Riker is probably viewed as a pretty top level officer, but I don't think that he's viewed by the whole of Starfleet as nearly Kirk-like in his awesomeness. Or that Martok, after years of dealing with Sisko, Ross, Worf, and Starfleet would be so arrogant as to ignore his allies. Little characterizational things like that can make or break a cameo and its what I was trying to address earlier.

I got all the way to 3x06 and then decided, before I listen to the finale to go ahead and listen to the seven released episodes of Lost Frontier. Did that and will listen to 3x07 of Section 31 shortly. Its a nice little bookend-y effect and kind of whet my appetite for the new episodes coming shortly.

I can't say enough good things about S31F. It is very largely responsible for my creation of Star Trek: Excelsior, and I can only aspire to one day share their level of production quality and their amazingly short release schdule. Blew me away every time.

I started listening to Section 31 only a few days ago...and hooked already...just about to start Seasion 2..
I'm really enjoying Star Trek - Lost Frontier and never realised just how much the series all intersect - story and character-wise...

I will say, some of the crossovers with other shows (i.e. Doctor Who / Red Dwarf) kinda thows me a bit... eg...a character mentioning a time traveller in a blue box or Judah with the "H" on his forehead. Also noticed in the synopsis that Daleks enter into it towards the end... so am looking forward to see how that's handled...(No spoilers please)... heheh